So last night I hit a giant pot hole in the rain. I immediately pull over to check things out but everything looks fine. I begin to drive again and hear a squeaking noise from the passenger front suspension when I go over bumps and a rubber rubbing noise when I turn the wheel.

I get home and find that there is what seems to be a rubber part lodged/attached to the spring. It is about 2-3" long, 3-4" tall and about an inch thick. It is entirely rubber and it seems to have a "C" slot that it the exact size of the spring (which it is holding on to. It is wedged between two coils thus it squeaks when I hit a bump and the spring compresses. The rubbing comes from the rubber piece rubbing behind the spring against the wall of the engine bay when I turn the wheel. I tried pulling it out but it is wedged in there solid.

What's weird is that I can not find that piece on the other drivers side. I also can not find it in any manuals or diagrams of suspension components.

Does anyone know a) what this piece is? b) what does it do? c) how do I get it out?

Below is a crappy sketch and some pictures to try to explain it.

_
| \
| C <---Spring Fits in here
|_|









Here is a picture of the other side. Notice it is not there on the left

 

Take that out, That is used for when the car is shipped so it does not compress the strut all the way.

The dealer shouldhave taken that out during pdi.

 

Really? How has it never gotten in the way for 35,000 miles?

Also, how do you recommend getting it out? It is stuck in there pretty damn good...

 

I have sen them last for 80k miles and really makes the suspension feel like crap.

All you have to do is jack the car up on that side and allow the strut to decompress some and either slide it out or pound it out with a small bar and a hammer depending how tight it is.

 

Awesome, wonder why the pot hole made it noticeable now after being there for 35k?

 

It prolly slid in to it's current position when the the pothole was hit.

 

Definitely take that out. I found those on my friend's Evo with 50k miles on it.

 

Thanks for the help! I jacked it up and was able to pop it out.

So does that mean I've been on a handicap racing the last 3 years....